Holy Cross Collegiate Hawks win their first gold medal of the season

Last weekend, the Holy Cross Collegiate Hawks Jr. A Girls basketball team took home the gold medal at a tournament in Drumheller!

Head Coach Mike Hannah said initially, the girls didn't expect much from the season, but their love of the sport and hard work all season paid off in a big way when they finally earned a gold medal.

"Every single player from the bottom to the top just bought into what we were doing and every week you could see that each player was developing a new skill and were progressing at such a nice level. Each player without a doubt is better than they were at the start of the year."

"They were so overwhelmed with what they accomplished, cause to play a game where it's so close the whole way, and to come out on the top side because you dug a little deeper and tried a little harder...  It had to be good feeling for them, you could see it in their faces, tears of joy that something that you worked for actually paid off." 

The story of the Hawks up to this point has been one of dedication and an unbreakable team spirit that has each team member loving the sport and putting in the effort to be the best they can. Through this passion, the team makes the most of each game and enjoys every second of it.

"They are having a lot of fun, they're even having fun when they lose and the other team is trying to figure out why are they having fun when they're losing a game." 

As the head coach, Hannah said he's incredibly happy to see how much fun the girls are having, as his hope was to have a team that just genuinely enjoys the sport.

"The culture that these girls have on that team is what you hope every team would have. We don't make as many baskets as some people, but we shoot more and we try harder and we play harder. And we just have an energy level that is hard to beat, and if you talk to any of the fans that watch, they say the same thing, they can't get over how hard working and how much fun these girls are having no matter what the outcome is." 

The bond these girls have is truly something special, which Hannah said makes watching and coaching the team fun for him as well. 

"They showed that they had it in them to work that much harder than the other team. You won't find a bunch of girls that have more fun and work harder and actually like being there than this group of girls."

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